List_of_G8_leaders
This is a list of the heads of state and heads of government of the Group of Seven nations at each G6, G7, G8 summit since the organisation's inception in 1975. The Group consists of the 6-7-8 largest industrialized democracies, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Union is also a member since 1977, represented by the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, which before 2009 was the leader of the state holding the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union, also sometimes coinciding with a G7/8 nation, and is since 2009 a permanent position. The G7 holds an annual summit, which each nation's head of government attends. Each year the heads of government take turns assuming the presidency, whose job it is to set the agenda for and host the annual summit. The leader who has been in office the longest of the seven leaders is considered the Senior G7 leader; currently Justin Trudeau since December 2021.
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While the current G7 consists of seven nations, it didn't always. The group was formed as the Group of Six, G6, including all of today's members minus Canada. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Canada joined in the second year of the group's existence, 1976, forming the Group of Seven, G7. Russia joined the Group of Eight, G8, in 1997, under the leadership of President Boris Yeltsin. Russia was suspended in March 2014 after the Russian annexation of Crimea, the group being thereafter again referred to as the Group of Seven.[1]
